DT, At least here I won’t have to quickly copy and paste your posts so I can still read them the next day … and email copies to you for your files.
Won’t have to dress up my avatar to look like some Godfather in protest … but it did beat dressing it up as a donkey in support of another regular. LOL

Don Thomas. I think your daughter likes the same things in Varadero that I do. I’ve only stayed in 2 hotels in Varadero and 4 in total in Cuba, so I will need a few hints. I might do better with name that tune, than name that AI. As a hint/guess, were you closer to town, rather than farther out on the peninsula?

There is bunch of us here who go off resort as well bunch of us who like to stay in the resort. Last time we went to Cuba we spent 1 month off resort living with Cubans I guess I did not have a choice … For me personally I like adventure and I like to explore Cuba! Going away from regular tourist destinations and hotels is great and something that everyone should try at least once to experience different Cuba. At least in Cuba its is possible and safer than in many other countries. Going to resort is good as well as there is no worries about food, drinks, bills etc and its is nice rest from daily routine and daily obligations that we have at home.

I’ll not be the first to guess the resort that I believe DT stayed at. Another regular on TA (unfortunately, not as regular as he used to be) was there as well, if my memory serves me well – he even wrote a review.
It is a great little resort, and one of the nest-kept secrets in Varadero. Lots of people shun it because it is too quiet. There was a thread on TA that it is being amalgamated by another resort.

We like to share the sandbox here at Debbie’s so no worries. We play nice, most of the time any ways, and agreeing to disagree with respect for others is what has kept me here since I first discovered Debbie’s forum way back in late 1999. Guess that makes me a senior member in more ways than just my post totals. It’s all about quality, not quantity!

I’ve never been a big fan of Tripadvisor and a pretty small fish over there. I very occasionally post as “kurtsoma”.

Spunky: Yeah that brings back memories. If someone had saved all my deleted posts from TA during the years you could spend half a day printing those out. What a waste of time trying to add anything to that forum.

John: Well you’ve stayed in twice as many resorts as me in Varadero then! In my defense, I have actually visited many resorts in Varadero and gone to Varadero at least 10 times before, but 2013 was the first time I ever spent a night in Varadero. But yes, close to town…

Mad: Don’t be so borring. Take a guess. I have no little Varadero secrets I can’t stand sharing with the world.

YVRck: I do remember kurtsoma from TA. Always thought is was a guy named Kurt, though (as opposed to a guy named Cristal)

Great to see you here DT. Despite my requests to get you reinstated at TA they have fallen on deaf ears. In fact in the end they didn’t have the courtesy of replying to my PM’s. All I ever did get back from them originally, as I told you, was that the request to be reinstated had to come from you.

As for TA, what would you expect. You have only posted on their forums with your free help and advice to Cuba travelers for 10-15 years as one of their destination experts, something like 80,000 times. You have only added more material than 15 guide books to their website. You are only one of main reasons why it’s a billion dollar business, you can’t expect them to reply to an email from you. Or even respect you.

“that the request to be reinstated had to come from you”

It would be a cold day in Santiago before I asked for that. And with their nutty behaviour in mind I am positive they would ignore me if I did.

[quote=@dontomas]-----
It would be a cold day in Santiago before I asked for that. [/quote]
Didn’t I have an argument with you once upon a time when you asserted that you had seen cold days in Santiago?

Our bunch here at Debbie’s has logged at least 100,000 posts on TA plus the quarter million contributions from Terry, DT, Mad, CL2, LENNY, Bellagio Ken and Ken. (in random order), thousands of photos and hundreds of reviews. I got the same response from TA when I asked that they reinstate you know who and a certain Australian too. Don’t feel as bad about it now, Thanks Bellagio.
Here, we have one of the best forums to get help with independent travel, All-Inclusive resorts and the trend towards a bit of both. All without jumping on a new member for asking a well-worn question. Recent posts included.#31, do I have to get a shivering Santiago Avatar, LOL

I can say that I got a ton of deleted posts on TA but was never banned. eeeefarm was the one who told me not to worry about getting deleted posts - it had happened to HER of all people, surprised because she uses humour with her dissent/advice (when needed). So I sort of stuck with TA until Debbie’s came back but I couldn’t remember my original name so I just used sundOg. And the ‘new Debbie’s’ is so different than the last one. It does have some controversy but it’s not so out of control that we can’t have disagreements once in a while. As long as you don’t begin the name calling! I had missed the give and take that people seem to enjoy. I lurk on Lonely Planet (should probably join some day) and it was so nice to read the real ‘experts’. Picked up a lot of info. This Debbie’s is joining the same genre. I miss GOM and Busman - 2 real arguers - and really a few others whose names will be private. Even if they did get confrontational it was good reading with gems of truth. I’m so glad DT is here and hopefully his arrival will give the other MIAs a push. Thank you sane moderators. At least for the most part

[quote=@eeeefarm][quote=@dontomas]-----
It would be a cold day in Santiago before I asked for that. [/quote]Didn’t I have an argument with you once upon a time when you asserted that you had seen cold days in Santiago? ;)[/quote]I can’t recall. Too many arguments in my time and I was never one to remember names of who I argued with. That’s a positive, meaning I don’t carry online grudges. Sometimes I have discussed in a positive manor with someone just to have that someone refer to an old argument and wonder why I was being so nice. I don’t care about these things. It’s only the internet. But yes, I do remember the two of us have had some, but don’t recall them ever being really uncivilized.

And yes, I was once in Santiago in January in 8 degress with a real feal of 4-5 degrees walking around in a winter jacket for 2-3 days, so if you want to argue about whether it can get cold there, give it a go

But since I didn’t write to TA then let’s say it would be snowing in Santiago before I asked to be ‘allowed’ back on TA. It would be the day they started having human moderators and the day they were paying contributors 5 dollars per post, and when they do that I won’t have time anyway because I’ll be at billionaire Bellagios private resort in Guardalavaca half the year

I don’t mind helping out the resort folks over on TA when I can. But I guess I mostly try to just stay away from there when the arguing starts. It blows my mind sometimes when I see how some people that have been to Cuba once or twice and stayed at a resort seem to think they know so much more about Cuba than so many of the people that have been going over and over for many years.

Of course, it is the internet, and for all I know, DT could be a 13-year old little girl that just pretends to have made all those trips to Cuba. (rofl)

James (GOM) is still swearing off forums and has stayed true to his word. I spoke with him by phone a couple of years ago.

Busman is not the type to grovel! It was his decision to let his banning here at Debbie’s stand and he won’t be begging anyone to be allowed back. He’s enjoying life in paradise with his new wife and family. Good job Dave!

I do find it interesting how some of what Gordon posted before he was banned has come to fruition. He may be a quirky guy with an odd and often brief writing/posting style, but he’s no fool when it comes to Cuba. To my knowledge, Gordon never broke any posting rules. I still don’t understand why he was banned except for the fact that some people just didn’t “like” him and his style.

Welcome to the forum DonTomas! So nice to have you here, I’ve always enjoyed your posts and have learned much from you over the years.

I hope you’ll enjoy this place as I have. A nice mix of AI people (like myself) who like their beach/resort time but find getting away from the place to be just as important, combined with some long time casa-goers and those who have been visiting family for many years. Oh, and we’re allowed to have some fun here too!